Steadfast La Liga president Javier Tebas believes there would be financial doping if Manchester City had signed Lionel Messi.
Clubless Messi, who has been without a club for a week, seems to be close to a transfer with Barcelona. Still, nothing has been nailed down yet – Barcelona need to get rid of more players before they can both sign new players and resign the Argentine.
But several clubs are lurking in the bushes. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are mentioned as two of very few clubs that can actually afford Messi. Or? Not according to La Liga president Javier Tebas.
– City have lost 2.8 billion kroner during the corona period, so they had not even been able to afford to sign Lionel with the conditions he had before. If they had succeeded, it would have been financial doping. I have said that to Pep Guardiola as well, says Tebas according to Sky Sports.
Need to establish some boundaries
It would have been unbelievable if City had been able to sign Messi, says the president.
– We have to establish some boundaries. Economic doping destroys football. We really have to fight against this and will continue to do so. It is one of the biggest problems in European football, and if it is not solved, we could end up in a very complicated financial situation.
The president himself says Messi must significantly reduce his salary in order to stay in Barcelona.
– It is not possible for Messi to sign a new contract with Barcelona, with the conditions he has had before. No European club can afford it.
Will Messi be ready?
He is still not sure if Messi will be registered in time for next season. Because at the same time as they hope to resign Messi, the club still has to get rid of more players. Junior Firpo has left Barcelona in favor of Leeds, while Konrad de la Fuente is ready for Marseille. At the same time, Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti have been informed that the club will release them from the contract.
But it does not hold.
– If no more players disappear, it is not possible to bring Messi back, he says. At the same time, Sergio Agüero, Memphis Depay and Eric García have all signed up for Barcelona, but no one has been signed yet, due to the club’s financial problems.
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